Last year Stone County saw the closing of the non-profit Love, Inc., which opened the door for new community groups to head important outreach programs like Unite Table Rock Lake’s toy drive.

Unite Table Rock Lake is accepting donations through this Saturday. There are over 50 different drop-off locations around Stone County for the community to donate. Maureen Darby tells Ozarks First that these donations will help families in need at the New Testament Christian Church on December 14-15.

“They will get to shop for items for their family members. They actually get that feeling of shopping,” said Darby. “They get to touch the items and really make it personal.”

Last year, the community group was able to give 986 kids around Stone County gifts for the holidays.

“We have churches that are doing tons of bikes,” said Darby. “We have sleep in heavenly peace that helps people that didn’t have a bed for their child last year. It’s just we get so much more than we give, and it’s just a joy to see how it impacts these families and instills hope and makes them feel love and needed at a difficult time.”

Rob Barringer is the pastor for Ignite Church and helps organize the toy drive with Unite Table Rock Lake. Barringer said they are still looking for items for older kids as well as more volunteers.

“Anything that you want to do, whether you want to give money, whether you want to drop off toys, whether you want to register to come and volunteer and serve on the 13th and 14th,” said Barringer. “We have lots of opportunities for all of that.”

A feature on the Toy Drive can be seen on the Ozarks First Website.

(Story by Jacob Blount, Christiana Randall, Ozarks First)